How do Meta Platforms (i.e., Facebook) employees approach retirement investing?
Meta offers a 401(k) retirement savings plan for its ~65,000 employees. Employees can choose to contribute a portion of their income to the plan.
But which investments do Facebook employees pick as retirement investments?
What is a 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
A 401(k) plan is a retirement savings plan offered by employers in the United States. It allows employees to save a portion of their salary before taxes are applied, meaning they pay less in taxes upfront.
The money is then invested in various options within the plan, such as mutual funds. Employers may also contribute to the employee’s 401(k) account, usually by matching a percentage of the employee’s contributions.
The funds in a 401(k) grow on a tax-deferred basis until they are withdrawn during retirement, at which point they are subject to regular income tax.
Some plans also offer a Roth 401(k) options where contributions are made “after-tax”, and withdrawals are tax-free in retirement.
A 401(k) retirement savings plan is a type of defined contribution plan.
The Meta Platforms 401(k) Plan
The Meta plan allows for matching contributions. Meta makes matching contributions in an amount equal to 50% of the first 7% of eligible compensation (pre-tax or Roth) deferred by participants (up to a total of 3.5% of eligible compensation).
Form 5500 lists the investments Meta Platforms 401(k) plan participants selected for their retirement funds. Giving us insight into how Facebook employees choose to invest for retirement.
401(k) plan sponsors are required to file Form 5500 with the Department of Labor each year.
So, what do Meta Platforms select for retirement investments?
The first thing to note is that they don’t directly invest in shares of Meta Platforms stock.
As opposed to some other tech companies (e.g., Amazon), Facebook doesn’t appear to offer their own shares as an investment option.
The single largest holding is the State Street U.S. Total Market Index fund with a whopping 22% of total plan assets. This fund tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index which is “designed to measure all U.S. equity issues with readily available prices.”
Like many tech company 401(k) plans, the Meta plan offers Target Date Retirement Funds.
These funds are designed to shift their holdings as the target retirement year approaches. They gradually shift to more bonds and fewer equities. In other words, they become more conservative as time passes.
It is common for these target date funds to be among the largest holdings in a 401(k) plan. For Facebook, target date funds occupy 7 of the top 10 holdings.
The largest of these holdings is the Vanguard Target Retirement 2050, designed for people planning to retire around the year 2050. The Retirement 2055 fund is very close behind.
Plan assets as of 12/31/2021
(from Meta Platforms’ 2022 filing of Form 5500)
| Top 10 Investments | % |
| State Street U.S. Total Mkt Index | 22% |
| Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 | 14% |
| Vanguard Target Retirement 2055 | 14% |
| Vanguard Target Retirement 2045 | 11% |
| BrokerageLink Account | 9% |
| Vanguard Target Retirement 2060 | 8% |
| Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 | 7% |
| Vanguard Target Retirement 2065 | 4% |
| Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 | 3% |
| State Street Gbl All Cap Equity Ex-US Index | 3% |
See the Meta Platforms 401(k) page for additional plan details and value of holdings.
Meta Platforms Retirement Distribution
The distribution of assets in Vanguard target date retirement funds—provide a rough view of participating employee ages.
The largest holdings are in the Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 and 2055 target funds. These investments should represent employees who plan to retire in the next 25 to 35 years.
Source: 2021 Form 5500 for Meta Platforms 401k plan
